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May We Never Forget

By Don Loftis | 11.08.17

The battle for Bataan in the Philippines raged for three months in the early months of 1942. After suffering defeat, many American and Filipino soldiers were subjected to a forced march in various stages that covered nearly 100 miles. The extreme heat coupled with brutal mistreatment by the Japanese resulted in over 10,000 casualties with about 600 of these being Americans.

Each March, a commemorative 26.2 mile march is held at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. A few survivors from the original march still attend, but only one still walks. Last year at the age of 99, Ben Skardon walked 8.5 miles to honor his best friends who did not survive. He says, “My debt to Henry Leitner and Otis Morgan is heavy. It cannot be repaid. People ask me. ‘How can you account for being alive when your best friends are dead?’ I cant.”

Those of us who follow Jesus Christ know that we live because of His death and are cleansed by the sacrifice He made. We are not asked to go to Jerusalem and experience a cross, but we are asked to keep the memory of that event alive through a weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper. Paul wrote regarding that memorial meal, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (I Cor. 11:26).

We live each day to honor those who have guided and shaped our lives with the story of the cross. More importantly, we live each day to honor Jesus, the Son of God, who took our place on the death march to Calvary and substituted His sinless life for ours.